Cognitive Recalibration
by Darke Eco Freak
Summary: Another drabble inspired by a theory and a line from the movie. What if hitting Loki really hard in the head made him see sense too?


**DEF: Yeah, finals going on all now and yet I have more Loki thoughts in my head than anything else. Just another drabble that popped into my head when I watched the movie again the other day when Widow is telling Clint how she saved him. Then I thought, what if Loki used the Hulk to break the Chitari's control over him? **

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"Puny God," the creature scoffed, lumbering off to rejoin the fight, the fight which wasn't as glorious anymore.

He could feel his bones healing, his magick crackling along his nerve endings to numb the pain of the monster's attack, for there was pain, but there was also relief. He had heard what the assassin told his pawn, about how she'd broken the scepter's control over the archer, and somewhere he had kept it, hidden it.

He remembered when his brother had found him after a year of separation, his words to him.

_'Who controls the would be king?'_

Yes, he had rationalized that Thor had caused all this, Thor and his jealousy, but really, he was being controlled by the Chitari and that infernal scepter. They had found him falling through space, too distraught to save himself and so they did the job for him, not **_for_ **him per say, oh no. They saw a chance to gain power and they took it. By saving his life they had awakened one of the oldest magicks, so old it wasn't even magick anymore. They had saved him, now he was bound by honor and blood to return the favor.

However, he was a sorcerer and an Asgardian, they would take no chances with their new pet. They gave him the scepter and he became little more than a puppet, he had his own will but he acted upon it for their benefit. They dictated the plans he put in action, they had the most to gain from this endeavor and nothing to lose but an expendable pawn.

He had no will to fight, no reason to fight, the _**Avengers** _as they called themselves, but he had instigated all of this. To them there was no one else, no one higher up to whom he reported, for honestly, who could control a God? Or better, who could control _him_?

His adoptive father had tried something of the sort in taking him as a babe, a Jotun child, Laufey's youngest. No matter what motivation he had for doing it the kingdom would still see him bringing an enemy's child into the very heart of their world and grooming him to be a prince, to be someone of power. Odin had been foolish to think they would be able to bring about peace through him, what reason would the Jotuns have to obey him, what cause to pledge loyalty to him?

To them he would be but the enemy's son, the enemy's pet Jotun. They would refuse to accept him as a ruler, Laufeyson or not, did Odin really forget that he had been abandoned and left to die? Had they wanted him, they would not have left him on the temple stairs, regardless of any war.

He would be held accountable for his actions and no one would believe him were he to plead innocent. Thor might even throw his words back at him.

_'You cannot kill an entire race brother.'_

_'Why not?'_

Was this truly any different than that? He had tried to destroy the land of monsters whom his father had conquered, whom his brother despised until recently and to what end? Thor had been cast out with none of his Godly powers, what would his fate have been?

He had already suffered stitched lips, what more? If Thor the beloved son, the princely son was treated as such, what was left to him? The runt, the unwanted, the stroðinn of the family. Would they kill him, no that would be to kind, perhaps they would chain him to a rock while a serpent dripped poison down upon him, yes, that sounded more like his _father_.

And how had the scepter's control been broken? He grit his teeth as his spine snapped back into place, the monster. He recalled the sliver of conversation his mind had hidden away, beyond the reach of the scepter.

_'Cognitive Recalibration. I hit you really hard in the head.'_

While he could not break free on his own, the bond said nothing of outside forces and thus he had worked to find one who could break the control of the scepter. It was as the assassin had said, he was 'making a play for Banner' only she had not known the double meaning of her words. He had suspected but he had not known, which was why he had had the archer track down the assassin and counted on her conscience to want to free her friend.

It had been something of an experiment on his subconscious' part, he had once told the archer not to kill any of the heroes and he had not, which was why the assassin was still living. Another play by his subconscious had been when he had stayed to goad on the monster, and not moved when he saw the creature reach for his leg. Any watching would've called it arrogance, truth be told he had not known why he had not acted upon centuries of battle instinct, choosing to move a second too late and ending up in the creature's grip.

He was sure he had blacked out the first time his head made contact with the floor and had awakened when he had been slammed against it but a second later. His thoughts had begun to clear then and he realized what had happened. He supposed there was a reason he was hailed as the God of Mischief and Lies, for in every lie, there is deceit, he had lived a lie for so long, believing what he had seen but what his mind had known. Was this really any different than that?

He shifted slightly, the sound of joints creaking and realigning met his ears and he cared not that moving now would dislocate the newly healed bones. He pushed himself up by the elbows and forced himself out of the crater his body had formed. Smirking grimly to himself, he looked up to meet the eyes of his captors.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

And the monster grunts and he can see the pure emotion in the blond haired God's eyes, he knows he's caused them grief but he can't find it to care anymore. Not while he's being shoved into a new cell, not when they bind his hands, not when they cover his mouth with a metal gag that makes him think he's choking.

He is himself again, he has his freewill and he chooses to go with them. If he didn't, did they think they could've taken him as they did? Demure and silent?

He would've fought, he would've cursed, he would've used his magick to save himself from this, this torture. Did his brother not realize what the gag did to him, not realize or not care?

The latter seemed the more plausible, he had tried to destroy the world that his brother loved, he had inadvertently tried to kill the mortal woman, Jane. Whatever love his brother once held for him had dwindled to almost nothing he was sure, and what there was left of it was calculated and kept in check by knowledge. He had hurt the blue eyed thunderer, he had done what no one had in many, many years. He had spilled the blood of Thor almighty, what the Destroyer had done had not counted as it had tried to kill a mortal man, he, on the other hand, had pricked his skin and spilt the stuff that was more precious as diamonds for it was so much more rare.

He followed said man meekly, not caring what happened now, he was tired. Had this truly been one of his tricks, he would've played it out merrily, taken pleasure from his enemies weaknesses, played on those weaknesses. This, this was a scheme orchestrated by others, and so he took the other end of the tessaract and prepared to face his punishment, whatever that might be.

'_Do you know what it's like to be taken apart and have something else put back in your place?'_

He, Loki, God of Mischief and Lies, could damn well say hell yes. He knew exactly what that was like, and he would even go one better to say that he had _**known**_ the 'something else' was in his place and not given a damn.

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**DE: Ah yes, Loki is a badass, what more can I say? Well I'm off to study for lit and bio and geo and spanish. I hate end of term so much it's not even funny. T.T**

****_Vita: I'd say I argeed with her but as I'm not writing them this term, I'm happy, though know, reading this for her, I can kinda see a connection between_ 'Every opposite and equal reaction of mine'. _Anyway, tell us what you thing about this new theory of hers and leave us a review. _


End file.
